Piastri demoted to sixth on Monza grid after Lawson block penalty

Oscar Piastri will drop three places on the Italian Grand Prix grid after being penalized for blocking Liam Lawson in Q2. The McLaren driver now starts sixth instead of third, promoting Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Why it matters:

The penalty takes the shine off Piastri's equal-best qualifying result of the season and leaves McLaren with its weakest combined qualifying showing in several rounds. Lando Norris will start ninth after struggling with braking confidence at a track where McLaren's straight-line weakness has been exposed.

The details:

• The incident happened at the end of Q2. Piastri emerged from pit lane as Lawson approached Turn 1 on a push lap; he moved aside for Verstappen but left Lawson with nowhere to go. Lawson was eliminated in 14th.
• Stewards accepted Piastri had "no other options available" but ruled he "inadvertently, and also unnecessarily, impeded" Lawson. Lawson starts from the back anyway after Red Bull fitted new power unit components.
• Piastri's 1m21.930s from his first Q3 run stood for P3 after he locked up on his final attempt. Pierre Gasly took a shock pole for Alpine.

Piastri admitted McLaren's pace was better than expected at Monza, but team boss Andrea Stella conceded the team failed to maximize Q3 after a strong Q2.

What's next:

Piastri expects a tough race, with Mercedes and Ferrari looking stronger on long runs. "We'll have to take our chances when they come," he said. The Italian GP starts at 11pm AEST Sunday.